Also known by it's scientific name, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mad cow disease is a fatal sickness in cattle that causes the slow deterioration of the animal's brain and spinal cord. As the tissue degenerates, it takes on a sponge-like appearance.
The illness earned the common name "mad cow disease" because it affects a cow's nervous system, causing bovines to act strangely and lose control of their ability to do normal things, such as walk. While it primarily attacks the brain & spinal cord, it can.be found in any tissue of the cow, including the bloodstream.
People who eat the meat from diseased cows are at risk of developing the human form of BSE, known as variant Creudzfeldt-Jakob disease (nCJD) or new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD). A rapidly progressive dementia, VCJD and NVCJD cause patients to experience failing memory, behavioral changes, lack of coordination, and visual disturbances. As the illness progresses, people experience involuntary movements, blindness, weakness of extremeties; 90% of patients die within a year of contracting the illness.
There is no cure for prion disease; while doctors can prescribe medications to ease symptoms, mad cow is fatal.
Source: {http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/health/120425/mad-cow-disease-what-is-it}
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